Why Marketing Isn't B****t and How Designers Can Supercharge It

Hey there! If you're a designer who's ever felt that marketing is just a bunch of smoke and mirrors, you're not alone. But hang tight, because I want to challenge that notion today. I've worn both hats—as the former head of design and the current SVP of Global Marketing at Globant, I've seen the friction and the potential of combining these two worlds to create fantastic experiences and creative story telling.

The Stigma Around Marketing in the Design World

Let's address the elephant in the room: Why do designers often see marketing as BS?

1. Perception of Inauthenticity: Designers value authentic user experiences and often view marketing as an industry that sells illusions.
2. Creative vs. Data-Driven: Designers think in terms of aesthetics and user-centricity, while marketing seems to pivot around numbers and analytics.
3. Feeling Marginalized: Sometimes designers feel their creative vision is compromised to meet marketing KPIs.

Marketers view designers as creative but not grounded in the reality of the business. Designers look at marketers as the ones that are only trying to sell, regardless of moral values or even quality. Both have a great point, both are right and also wrong.

We as designers tend to fall in love with the form of our designs and we often forget the place these designs need to hold in a company or a community. Designers have the opportunity to pay closer attention to the business and use our creativity to come up with sustainable and real solutions that help customers and enable wonderful digital experiences.

We as marketers often create initiatives based on a selfish pursuit of financial growth without prioritizing or listening what the user actually needs. Marketers have the opportunity to include the voice of the user, the customer and provide real value that goes beyond the need to just draw attention.

How Designers Are Underselling Themselves

Design isn't just about good visuals; it's a functional part of solving real-world problems. But by dismissing marketing you're missing the opportunity to be an advocate for the user within the company.

Design has the power to drive conversions, increase engagement, and establish brand loyalty. Designers have to step up to the conversations about business value, bringing the sensibility that design provides about human behavior, perception, persuasion and beauty from a realistic and often serious point a view.

It's important for designers to see marketers (and business roles in general) as enablers for good design, rather than as the enemy that kills the soul of design.

The same goes to marketers, it's time for marketing to work as a design-lead activity. Creating opportunities for human connection beyond brand greed. Actually experimenting with technology for the sake of experimentation and focusing on value rather than on publication.

The Hidden Synergy – How Design Can Transform Marketing

It's time to change the narrative. Here's how design can enhance the efficacy of marketing:

1. Creating Authentic Narratives: A good design can make a marketing campaign show a genuine and relatable message. Designers have the pulse of how to visually represent an idea. Work together to create an inspiring vision of the message you want to convey and make your authenticity show.
2. Data Visualization: Design can transform raw numbers into compelling visuals that make a message resonate. Putting designers at the center of data is a sure path to business success. Having creative minds play with raw data will enhance the ability to tell stories and make smarter decisions.
3. User-Centric Campaigns: When design and marketing collaborate, campaigns become more focused on user needs rather than just pushing a product. This is the KEY of the marketing and design duo. Here is where everything actually works. When one brings a business need and the other one looks for the soul in it is where amazing things can happen.

Turning Marketing into a Tool for Better UX

Let's flip the script. Instead of seeing marketing as an obstacle, view it as a tool to create better UX.

Use marketing data to refine design elements. A joint venture between marketing and design can result in truly innovative solutions. Cohesive brand guidelines can make marketing feel less like an intrusive sales pitch and more like a natural conversation.

So, it's high time we bridge this gap. By understanding the intrinsic value both fields bring to the table, we can do more than just coexist—we can thrive together.

I'm happy and glad to see that this is possible and the results are amazing! ;)